Huawei MediaPad X1 and M1 Unveiled with Interesting Designs

We all lived the days when smartphones tried to breach (and successfully ruptured) the line between mobile phone and tablets, with gadgets like the Dell Streak 5 and the Galaxy Note. Well, these days, it seems that tablets strike back a bit, with Huawei’s interesting concept of packing phone-like features in a regular-sized tablet. Meet the MediaPad X1 and M1, two proud pioneers of the movement.

The MediaPad X1 and M1 are two small-sized slates, each packing an eight and seven inch display with a healthy resolution. What’s more curious in the case of these tablets, is the company’s idea of placing a speaker at the very top and a 4G LTE antenna, which can be both used for high-quality video calls without actually taking the slate from the desk. On top of that, Huawei has also fitted an intelligent juice transfer feature, which allows the MediaPads to transfer energy from a compatible phone, in case you run out of battery. But let’s properly meet the two.

The new Huawei MediaPad X1 and M1 tablets

The Huawei MediaPad X1 (pictured above) is the most powerful, and also biggest version of the two. While in matters and design stands little between this model and its sibling, except size, when it comes to the internal configuration the X1 has quite the advantage. One of the most noticeable things that we observed during the MWC 2014 presentation was the narrow side bezel and the display itself, which can actually be considered an edge-to-edge panel.

Huawei has wasted no space when it designed the slate, and that can also be seen from the thickness of the model: just 7.18 mm (which puts it even slimmer than the new Ascend G6). The effects of this design can also be seen in the overall weight, with the MediaPad X1 feeling very, very light and comfortable to hold.

When it comes to display, the 7-inch panel can render content in 1280 x 920 resolutions, putting the slate’s pixel density at 323 PPI. On the rear panel users will find a massive 13-megapixel shooter and on the front side a wide-angle 5 MP camera has also been fitted.

As mentioned above, the X1 is bestowed with 4G LTE connectivity and 16 GB of built-in storage, which can be extended up to 32 GB through the use of a microSD card. The heart of the device is a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor that’s powered by a 5000 mAh, which should offer around 3.5 days of normal use, if we were to take the word of producer. On the downside, the MediaPad X1 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Huawei mentioned that the X1 will be available in China, Russia, Western Europe, Japan, Latin America and the Middle East from March 2014, for an undisclosed price.

The bigger 8-inch tablet named the MediaPad M1 was deemed a less portable version of the first, but one that packs less impressive specifications and one that should be sold for a more affordable price. For instance, the M1 comes with a smaller 4800 mAh battery and a significantly less-performant 5-megapixel camera mounted on the back, accompanied by a 1-megapixel shooter on the front. The display resolution has also been downsized up to 1280 x 800 pixels, which still offers HD quality for viewers.

On the good side, the MediaPad M1 preserves the same 4G LTE connectivity and the same powerful 1.6 GHz quad-core processor. Also, the feature we mentioned above that lets you transfer battery juice from a phone towards the slate, named Reverse Charging, is shared by the M1 also.

When it comes to internal storage, the M1 will come in two flavors: 8GB and 16 GB, both fitted with a 32 GB microSD extension slot. In matters of availability, the M1 should go live in May.

Alex Serban Feature Writer Alex holds an engineering degree in Telecommunications and has been covering technology as a writer since 2009. Customization is his middle name and he doesn’t like to own stock model gadgets. When he’s away from the keyboard, simpler things like hiking, mountain climbing and having a cold drink make his day.